XBox 360 Rally

The servers are melting. Paco spilled his cola on the keyboard. JW’s out back trying to wrangle the horses. In short, we’re all kinds of FUBAR, so we may not be able to update as much as we’d like today.

Sorry, peeps. We’ll be back soon.

Major Nelson announced today on his blog that the absolutely MASSIVE Stranglehold Demo is now available for mass consumption on Xbox LIVE. If you haven’t heard of Stranglehold, I’ll sum it all up for you right now: It’s a sequel to the insane action film “Hard Boiled” starring Chow Yun Fat as Inspector Tequila.

The Demo will allow you, as Tequila, to run-and-gun to your heart’s delight through a fully destructable Hong Kong marketplace, raining death upon all those who dare to cross you.

One bit of warning, however. If you haven’t upgraded to the 120GB Hard Drive, this one is going to hurt you a bit, as the Stranglehold Demo weighs in at a rather stout 1.28GB. So you may want to make sure you’ve deleted some crap you don’t need anymore, like that Call of Juarez saved game you’re just never going to finish.

[Major Nelson]

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There has been a lot of controversy regarding a recently posted rumor regarding SEGA’s possible Tokyo Game Show line-up. Now, I was originally very defensive of this piece because of who sent it in. He, a long-time go-to guy named Rob, has sent me exclusive tips for four years, and until this most recent one, they were ALL accurate.

Regardless, after the link had been posted by reader “Cedge”, I immediately contacted Rob via GoogleIM.

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Ladies and Gentlemen, Major Nelson would like you to know that the demo for NASCAR 08 is now available for download on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

For those of you who have yet to play a NASCAR title, let me boil things down for you: You pick one of four car types (Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Ford Fusion, Dodge Charger, Toyota Camry), and drive around in circles of various sizes. While the formula usually has you turning left, every once in a while you’ll get to turn right, which is surely the most exciting aspect of any NASCAR game.

…what I’m trying to say is, don’t waste your time or hard drive space. If you’re a NASCAR fan, you’ll just buy the game. If you’re not a NASCAR fan, you’ll find this to be the most redundant racer EVER.

[Major Nelson]

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Two highly anticipated Xbox Live titles are finally making their way to the Arcade in Super Contra and Wing Commander Arena.

Wing Commander Arena is the first XBLA title that will feature multiplayer support for sixteen players across three of the game’s four play modes: Multiplayer Team, Free For All and Duel. The fourth option, naturally, is Single Player. The skill-based matchmaking will ensure that you never face off against someone who would utterly pound your ass into cosmic dust. You’ll also be able to pick from one of eighteen different ships, being able to customize each ship with upgradeable weapons, cloaking devices, etc.

Wing Commander Arena will cost you a cool 800 MS Points.

Super Contra will give you two ways to play: Single Player or Two-Player Co-Op either through your machine, or over Xbox Live. You’ll be able to select whether you want the new, 21st century enhances graphics, or if you want to go old school with the original, old school look.

Super Contra will cost you an even cooler 400 MS Points.

[Gamerscore Blog]

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Just to make this a true ‘Part 2′ to the first Fire Up the ol Xbox post (link), if you just want freebies, the Marketplace is full of ‘em. A demo for the game “The Bigs” has been made available for you baseball fans as well as JW posting earlier about the Stuntman: Ignition being available too. Trailers for BlackSite, The Bourne Conspiracy (also look for a ‘behind the scenes’ video of the creation of the game), Assassin’s Creed, Frontlines: Fuel of War, Eternal Sonata, Bee Movie, Army of Two, and NCAA 08. Finally, the full E3 2007 Press Conference is available for download in 6 parts, all HD, will run you a little over 2 gigs, so free up some space!

Texas Hold ‘em had a very cool update today, introducing Xbox Live Vision Camera support. As the proud owner of the Cam (bought for very cheap here) as well as the proud owner of Texas Hold ‘em (Gotta love free XBLA games), this update is worth checking out. If you were ever looking for an XBLA game that was worth while, Texas Hold ‘em is one of my top 5 most played games on my 360 console, maybe no daily, but not a week or two won’t go by that I don’t fire the game up to play online. Some other features were added that more than make the update worthy of a download whether you own the cam or not (click here for full update list)

Now for the moment you all have been waiting for, the new additions and updates for all your original Xbox games onto your 360:

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There are a few games that with only a mere mentioning can make gamers across the globe cringe. Most are because of just how truly awful they were, games like E.T., Superman, Big Rig and Galleon (it sucked, accept this). But there are also a select few games that make gamers cringe, scowl and openly cry out in pain for another reason. A far more sinister reason. Games like Contra, Ghosts n’ Ghouls, Battletoads, and Stuntman invoke these feelings of sheer dread and despair. Why?

Because they’re freaking IMPOSSIBLE! THAT’S WHY!

Now, as Major Nelson is more than happy to tell us, the demo for the sequel, Stuntman: Ignition is now available for download over Xbox Live. So, go on. Download it. Let yourself be driven to tears all over again. You all have fun with that. As for myself… I’m staying far, far away.

Far away.

Far.

[Major Nelson]

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We all love the Halo music. If you don’t like the Halo theme, then you just plain have no taste in music whatsoever… and you probably hate Democracy. So GTFO my site, you anti-Halo commie bastard.

…no, no. I was kidding. Get your ass back here.

For you who DO love Halo, however, Bungie is now offering, for free, the music to the E3 trailer we all saw (sans G4 viewers) on Tuesday night. So give it a download, and rock the hell out!

[Bungie]

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Fresh off JW’s Live Blogging of the E3 Press Conference comes tons of new videos and other little downloads for you to enjoy. The videos are as follows (all available in HD btw): Naruto: Rise of a Ninja, Civilization Revolution, Too Human, Project Gotham Racing 4, Lost Odyssey, Viva Pinata Party Animals, Mass Effect, as well as montage videos for Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox 360 Games, Games for Windows, and Xbox Live Marketplace.

Onto the games! Most importantly, of course is the Blue Dragon Demo that is now up, as well as demo’s for the XBLA titles Sonic the Hedgehog and Golden Axe. That is it for the free stuff, check Major Nelson if you want to see some more things available that you can buy.

Update: Files added since I posted this: E3 2007 Theme and Picture Pack, trailers for NBA Live 08, Beautiful Katamari, Crash Bandicoot, Guitar Hero III, Call of Duty 4, Devil May Cry 4, and the demo for Ace Combat 6. I notice also available is an IGN E3 2007 Pre-show Wrap Up, all which can conveniently be found in the Marketplace blade in the Games section where that huge “E3 Bringing it Home” button is that takes up half the screen. Do some searching around also to find the “Halo 3: E3 2007 Trailer” .. if not, just scroll down.

Now, for one very important video that JW mentioned near the ending of his post (link), Halo 3. Now that video isn’t avaialbe for download on your 360 just yet, however, God bless Gamevideos.com, look no further than below:

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Who here loves football? I know I do, and deep down, you do too. It goes without saying that College Football is, was, and forever will be far superior to the Professionals, simply because there’s no distractions. No unions threatening to strike if they don’t get their way. Players don’t hold out for more money. It is, pure and simple, about football.

As I check my watch, and see that we’re in mid-July, it dawns on me that we’re approaching that time of year again. EA Sports is preparing their double-dose of football for the masses, and Maddenoliday quickly approaches. If you can’t wait for Madden, however, you can always hop on the NCAA bandwagon and check out the new demo for NCAA Football 08. It weighs in at a plump, but not fat 684MBs, and from what little I’ve played, does NOT disappoint. So go on, give it a download, and tell us what you think. Oh, one last thing…

Hail to the Victors, Buckeye Bitches.

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You can say a lot about game publisher Ubisoft, but you can’t say they don’t treat their user base well. If you recall a week or two ago, there was an issue with their Black Pack. Apparently it was intended to be free, but that’s not how it worked out. Well, as a token of their appreciation, Ubisoft has not only promised to reimburse those who purchased the Black Pack, but they have also made their Red Pack free of charge as well.

So, if you’re one of the big RSV fans out there, and were waiting to pick up these packs, you’re in luck. Go DL it right now!

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Kids, I come with good news on this rather beautiful Tuesday. If you were of age back in 1990, you may remember the classic “Sports” sim called Speedball II. Now, the classic (if not slightly violent) title is headed to the Xbox Live Arcade, with new teams and some DLC for your enjoyment.

You know the drill — Press Release after the break.

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Today brings to a close one of the greatest cock tease demo of them all, the Halo 3 Beta. Now with my cousin out of town, I was able to nab his 360 and hook up my hard drive to get some more game time in (see: Red Ring of Death). Though I didn’t get to play the full time the beta was available, I actually feel I got to play enough of it, didn’t touch custom games, but I was already getting sick of playing the same levels over and over, good levels mind you, just annoying after a while.

Well, since I still had this working 360 over this weekend, I did manage to nab the new demo’s available. I can’t lie, I am very impressed so far. Check the rest of this entry for my thoughts on the new stuff.
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If you bought the Collector’s Edition of Lost Planet, you already know the awesomeness that is the Battleground map. It’s the extra map that the users who didn’t buy the regular ol’ version of Lost Planet didn’t get. Until NOW!

…well… June 7th, actually. But still, come June 7th, all you Lost Planet owners will be able to download, and throw down on the “Battleground” map. And the best part? It’s absolutely free! There are already two map packs available for 400 MS Points apiece. Map Pack #1 features two maps, “Island 902″ and “Radar”. Map pack #2 features “Hive Complex” and “Trial Point”.

If you own both these map packs, then you have absolutely no reason not to download this map. Unless you already have it. In which case, congrats on 1uping the system.

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We have some new videos for us this week inside the Xbox Live Video Marketplace, and here is a quick rundown:

TV:
~Babylon 5: Season Five
~Shooting Sizemore
~Comedy Central Stand-Up

MOVIES: (All films also in HD)
~Team America: World Police
~Happily N’Ever After
~Freedom Writers

SHORTS:
~Baxter & Maguire
~Guacamole
~The Golden Age

Also, there is a sneak-peek at Season Three of the hit “Chris Angel: Mindfreak” that, personally, I am psyched for. So if you see anything on this list that you’ve been waiting for, now you can get it. So get it. Now.

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